


Loki x Reader - Cat's Eyes

by TheJokersEnigma



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Don't really know what I'm doing, F/M, Or where I'm going with this, Tumblr request
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-17
Updated: 2018-07-21
Packaged: 2019-04-03 15:32:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 16,093
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13999152
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheJokersEnigma/pseuds/TheJokersEnigma
Summary: This was a tumblr request:Could it be between loki and the reader? If so could you have the reader to be Peppers nieces and have her slowly come into contact with the avengers. Or something like that. Idk use your amazing talent and imagination! Could you have a reader to be normalish and um maybe add a power to her later like bending an element or something. Or what ever you think would be best. Can the reader be shy when she meets someone but when they become comfortable with each other she never shuts up. Also kind and smart. Also could you make the relationship of loki and the reader not rushed?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This first chapter is more Steve Rogers x reader (not romantically) - I’ll point that out as someone has recognised it’s a bit misleading! There will be Loki eventually, maybe in the next chapter I imagine! My request was just for a slow burn and slow intro to avengers... (plus I don’t really know where I’m going with this story...haha)

You stared out over the city that was spread out beneath you from this height, the view stretching far into the distance. It was beautiful, and you almost envied the birds that held this sort of a view no matter where they went.

Your felt your ears prick up at the sound of voices behind you, but you barely reacted, all your attention focusing on the people that moved like ants on the street below.

“Look, Cap, I’m not sure what the problem is here…” Tony confessed, clearly exasperated as he strode across the floor of the communal living room.

“The problem, Stark, is t –“ Steve Rogers stopped, frowning in confusion, when a movement over Stark’s shoulder caught his eye. “Is that a cat?”

Tony frowned at his colleague in bewilderment, then turned, following his eyeline to the balcony. “Yes, Cap, I believe it is…” Tony murmured in disbelief.

Both men stood there, bewildered, watching the dark coloured cat that sat on the railing of the balcony, its tailing twitching back and forth behind it.

“How on Earth did it get up this high?”

“Beat’s me, Cap, pests aren’t usually a problem at this height.” Stark muttered and he now slowly moved towards the glass balcony doors, Rogers following after him, both wary not to make any sudden moves that might spook the creature.

The cat still didn’t seem to notice them and they each took a side behind it, glancing at each other and then nodding in signal. There was a pause as they both readied themselves, then Rogers snatched a hand out, grabbing the scruff of the cat. It let out a sharp meow of protest and lashed a paw out, but Steve dodged it easily, keeping the feline at arm’s length. He evaded another wide-reaching paw - stretching the cat even further away from his body - and then exchanged a glance with Tony, suddenly realising they now had a cat, but weren’t entirely sure what to do with it.

“Throwing it over the edge isn’t an option, is it?” Stark asked with a grimace.

“Not much of a cat person, are you?” Steve joked, dodging another swipe.

“Can you blame me?” Tony asked, flinching out of the way as another attack on Steve narrowly missed him instead.

“Get me – ah,” Steve cried, only just moving out of the way in time to avoid another claw, “get me a towel or something.” He suggested, the cat swing slightly in his grip, it’s body curled up into a protective ball, teeth bared as it hissed its disapproval at being man handled.

“Right.” Tony agreed, hurrying back inside, Steve following after him with the cat still a full arm’s length away.

“What in Odin’s name is that?” Thor asked, striding into the room as Tony hurried back to Steve with hand towel from the kitchen.

“What, you don’t have cats on Asgard?” Tony asked, jokingly as him and Steve now wrestled the protesting feline into the towel, trying to avoid the sharp claws whilst also making sure they were safely tucked away.

“’Cats’?” Thor repeated, then paused a moment to think about this, “No.” He mused, then tilted his head. “Is this a normal thing to do to a cat?” He asked, watching the odd dance Tony and Steve were doing as they fought against the small creature and dodged its reciprocating attacks.

“If it’s trying to scratch you – yeah.” Tony panted, quickly pulling his arm away as a paw came towards him. “Try and hold it against your body or something.” He suggested to Steve.

“Oh, yeah, Stark, I’ll get right on that.” Steve muttered, if anything holding the cat further away as it now let out a loud howl and swung again.

“Ah, so this is for restraint?” Thor questioned, seemingly amused by the whole situation. “A piece of cloth?” Scoffed Thor. “Can’t be a very fearsome beast.”

“You wanna try?” Growled Tony, out of breath, but unable to shoot Thor a glare, fearing that if he took his eyes off the feline he’d miss a flying paw.

At this point, Rogers threw caution to the wind and pressed the cat and the towel firmly down on the closest surface – the end of the dining room table – and then, one hand pinning the creature down - and with the help of Tony - quickly swaddled the creature with the towel. The cat squirmed in its new burrito-like position – all feet within the wrap of the towel, only its head poking out - but Steve just pressed down more firmly onto its back until it gave up, now just settling with crouching there and yowling in protest.

Steve and Tony exchanged relieved glances, both a bit out of breath, whilst Thor watched on, thoroughly amused by their struggles. “Are these creatures a common pest problem?” He asked.

“Not at this height.” Tony muttered, straightening up. “Lord knows how it got up here…” He said glancing back towards the glass balcony doors.

“What’ll you do with it now, is there a control system for these creatures?” This seemed to stump Tony, who opened his mouth, but seemed to have no answer.

“Does it have a tag?” Rogers asked, ignoring half of Thor’s question.

Tony glanced at Steve, also opting not to try to explain things to the God, and turned back around going as though to check. He reached towards the cat’s neck, then quickly withdrew his hands when the cat turned its golden eyes on him, hissing angrily. “Not actually sure I wanna check, Cap.” Tony admitted, and Steve rolled his eyes as Stark now stepped back, putting distance between him and the creature. The cat’s ears, which had been flatten against its head, now pricked back up and Tony suddenly recognised the white markings on each tip. “Hang on, Cap - does that cat have a white stripe running down it’s back?”

Steve frowned at him, but checked, easing off the pressure slightly on the cat and checking under the towel. His brow knitted. “Yes.” He answered “– Why?”

Tony scowled. “Damn it, [Y/N]. This is her cat.” He said, gesturing at it.

“Who’s [Y/N]?” Thor asked.

“Pepper’s niece.” Tony explained. “She’s just moved here.”

“She’s living in the tower?” Rogers frowned.

“No. she’s staying at Pepper’s until she can afford her own place.”

“Then why is her cat here?”

Tony stared down at the cat, shrugging. “Beats me, Cap, I’ve no clue how it even got in the building.”

“Well can you call her or something, Stark? I don’t particularly want to stand here like this all day.” Rogers muttered, shifting his grip on the cat impatiently.

Tony shot Steve a look that said he didn’t appreciate the attitude. “JARVIS?” Tony, called to the room, his eyes still on Steve.

“Yes, sir?”

“Get a hold of [Y/N], I believe we have something of hers.” Tony said, breaking eye contact with Rogers and glancing around the room.

“Of course, sir.”

“And what am I supposed to do now?” Steve asked, annoyed to see Tony was already heading for the door.

Tony paused. “Uh – stand there and look pretty – as usual.” He shrugged, then continued towards the elevator, “JARVIS’ll let you know when she’s on her way.” He called back with a causal flick of his hand, stepping into the lift. He gave a farewell, sucks-to-be-you smile then the doors closed on him and he disappeared.

Steve let out a short, frustrated sigh, knowing there was nothing he could do now - he was stuck there with the cat until this [Y/N] showed up. Thor had now been to the kitchen and returned, finishing off a bite of something, he regard the cat with curiosity again, circling around it, but keeping his distance as the Midgardians seemed wary of it.

“You really don’t have cats?” Steve couldn’t help asking, watching Thor’s odd behaviour.

“I believe we have something similar,” Thor muttered, “but they are much larger, blood thirstier beasts.” He explained, studying the restrained creature, only its head visible.

“Right…” Steve nodded, “Well I’m not sure they would be blood thirstier…” He muttered, glancing warily down at the cat that had now resigned itself to its fate and was falling asleep where it crouched.

Thor straightened his head and raised an eyebrow at Rogers, clearly not buying the danger of the half-sleeping beast. “Aww, come on - it looks almost quite cute.” He said, stepping closer and gesturing at it with a hand. “Ah!” He suddenly cried, retracting his hand and nursing it close to his chest, “The bastard bit me!” He growled. Steve bit his lip, trying not to laugh, though he couldn’t hide his smirk and Thor rounded on him “You let it bite me!” He accused.

Steve shifted his grip on the cat so he could hold it with one hand, lifting his free one up in surrender to Thor. “I’m only holding its body,” He explained in defence, “I have no control of its head,” He said, gesturing down to show how he was holding the cat and towel. “You shouldn’t have tried to touch it.”

Thor scowled at Rogers. “I didn’t!” He sulked, “It lunged at me!”

Steve sighed, knowing there was no point in arguing with Thor. “Go and see Banner before it gets infected.” Steve muttered nodding at the door. “I’ll hold down the fort.” Thor hesitated, but did as he was told, still muttering to himself as he left.

It wasn’t too much longer did JARVIS’s voice rang through the room. “Miss [L/N] has arrived, Captain.” He announced. “Shall I send her up?”

“Please, JARVIS.” Rogers answered, trying not to sound too desperate. The cat was still asleep, but Steve didn’t trust how much longer that would last and whether the creature was simply biding its time – saving its energy to try to make an escape when Steve finally dropped his guard.

The elevator pinged as you arrived on the floor JARVIS had instructed you to, and you stepped out, glancing nervously around before you caught sight of the man on the opposite end of the room, his back to you. You had hoped that it would have been Tony who had your cat – after all, JARVIS had been the one to get in contact with you – as you would have much preferred a familiar face to have to apologise profusely to rather than a complete stranger, but the blonde haired man before you was definitely not Tony Stark. Your eyes moved down his muscular back, now noticing he was leant over something and, as you looked, you recognised your cat’s dark head sticking out of some sort of towel. “Kali?” You called in disbelief, quickly walking over. The man glanced over his shoulder at your call and the cat’s eyes shot to yours at her name. “Oh my god, sir, I am so, so sorry!” You apologised whole-heartedly. “My aunt just told me! I’m really sorry!”

“It’s fine.” Rogers smirked kindly at you, chuckling lightly at your frantic apologies.

It suddenly clicked in your, nervously slow, mind why your cat was wrapped up. “Oh – uh – she wasn’t being a lot of trouble… - was she?” You winced, already knowing the answer.

“Well, she basically managed to single handedly take down about half of the avengers, so I’d say she’s quite a force of nature.” Steve joked, glancing down at the cat who was still staring up at you as though waiting for something.

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry,” You said, now glancing between the man and your cat, “really I –“ You stopped, something in your head suddenly clicking the familiar face into place, “Hang on! Are you – no – your Steve Rogers, aren’t you?!” You asked in amazement. Steve bowed his head with an embarrassed, bashful smile. “Oh my god, I’m so sorry, but also, wow – hi - nice to meet you!” You blushed tripping over words in your excitement and nerves.

Steve laughed at you. “It’s – a – uh - pleasure to meet you too.” He said, freeing up a hand again to hold it out to you. You faltered for a moment in disbelief then numbly shook Captain America’s hand, your heart pounding erratically. When the two of you released, you dropped your head, staring down at Kali as you now absentmindedly stroked the top of her head. There was an awkward pause between the two of you and you found yourself unable to look the man in the eyes now.

“Uh – you can - uh – you can let her go – uh – if you want.” You muttered, gesturing at where his hand still held the cat. “She shouldn’t go anywhere – she’s - uh - she’s usually attached to my hip.” You explained, “But I – uh – I guess she wanted to see New York.” You joked weakly.

“You’re sure?” Rogers asked, uncertainly, and you realised how tense he was about setting Kali free - it almost made you want to laugh. You nodded though, and Steve carefully eased his grip, releasing the towel. You could see how wary he was of getting too close, alert for any sudden paw that might swiped out at him, so you brushed him aside and took over, removing the towel off Kali’s back and then stroking a hand from her head to her tail. She purred under your touch and pressed herself up into your hand. When you removed your touch, Kali stood up fully, stretching her front legs out and sitting back on her haunches, flexing her claws. You smirked at the look on Steve’s face when he saw this.

Kali’s eyes then glanced around, completely ignoring Steve and finding you instead. She let out a meow and then lithely jumped up onto your shoulder, her claws momentarily digging into your skin for purchase, but you didn’t flinch. She stepped over your shoulders and then curled herself in her usual position around your neck, before settling back down to snooze again.

“Lazy thing.” You muttered and one of Kali’s ears twitched to show you she was listening.

Now Steve finally deemed any threat from the cat to have been neutralised, he visibly seemed to relax, and you glanced over at him with a smirk.

Captain America, frightened by a - relatively – harmless cat.

“So, you’re Pepper’s niece, right?” He asked you now.

“Uh - yeah.” You smiled back slightly surprised, “Tony been talking about me?”

“He may have cursed your names a few times when the cat took a swipe at him.” Steve smirked, and you laughed, feeling far more at ease now you had Kali back in her usual place. “I got to ask though,” Steve said, crossing his arms and leaning back against the dining table. “Tony as an uncle…. - What’s that like?”

You chuckled again. “Uh – ha – to be honest, I don’t really know.” You confessed, “I haven’t been around much…” You told him, glancing up at Kali and scratching her behind the ear, her purr loud in your ear and the vibrations resounding through your shoulders. “I’ve been abroad - studying, travelling – but I decided it was time I – uh - settled down and – uh - maybe got a decent job.” You explained with a weak smirk, eyes still on Kali. “I used to be really close to Pepper when I was little – before she even worked for Tony – my parents, not so much,” You explained with a face that said if you could shrug, you would, “So when it came to finding someone to help me, Pepper seemed like the most obvious answer and that’s why I’m here.” You glanced away from back at Steve, suddenly realising what you’d just done. “Oh - sorry.” You apologised quickly, feeling your cheeks redden, “You didn’t want to know my life story,” You chuckled weakly, “Ignore me.” You dismissed with a wave.

“No - no,” Rogers muttered, shaking his head at the floor, “it’s fine, I would have asked – if – uh – if you’d let me.” He smirked.

“Sorry.” You mumbled again, your cheeks becoming even hotter.

“Stop apologising.” He smirked.

“I would if I stopped doing things wrong.” You joked with a small laugh. He smirked back at you and the two of you fell into a slightly less awkward silence. “Right,” You said, fiddling with your hands, “uh – well – we’d,” you gestured between you and Kali, “- we’d better be getting home.”

“Right.” Steve nodded, straightening up from where he had been leaning as you now headed for the elevator again.

“Oh,” You paused by the door, turning back to Steve, “You – uh - you say she took down half the avengers?” Steve smirked and nodded. “Then – uh – who - who else do I need to over-apologise to?” You asked with a small smirk.

“Well – uh - Tony’ll have a few choice words for you, I imagine,” Steve smirked back at you, and you felt yourself blush, imagining the scene, “but he didn’t actually get hurt – so don’t let him make you think he did.” Steve warned you, humour in his eyes. You nodded with quiet snicker, already knowing Tony well enough that he might try to pull that. “Thor, however,” Steve continued, “did get himself bitten.”

“Thor?! You mean the ‘God of Thunder’, Thor?” You asked, wide-eyed. Steve nodded. “Shit.” You muttered to yourself.

Rogers chuckled at you. “He -uh – he actually said he’d never seen a cat before,” He told you, “I guess that meant he didn’t know not to get near one when it’s not particular pleased.” Steve smirked, “I told him to get it checked out before it got infected.”

“Good idea.” You murmured, still trying to take in that the kitten wrapped around your neck had somehow done damage to an actual God. “I – uh – I’d better pay him a visit at some point…” You mused to yourself “To – uh – say sorry personally.”

“I hear he likes waffles.” Rogers suggested with a twinkle in his eyes and you laughed.

“Thank you, I’ll bear that in mind.” You sniggered. “Ok, well,” You said, glancing at the lift, “I guess l’ll – uh – see you around.” You said, taking a few steps backwards towards the exit. “Probably on the news when you next – uh – ‘save the world’ and all that.” You smiled, raising a hand in farewell.

“Right. Sure, yeah.” Steve mumbled, copying your action with a smile and then watching as you turned around and headed back into the elevator - the cat still happily curled, asleep, around your shoulders.


	2. Part 2

You padded down the long corridors - all of them looking the same, modern monotone shade with numerous doors leading off to who knows where, with the occasional plastic-looking – and smelling – house plant to break up the repetitiveness.

The scent you were following was getting stronger the further you walked. It pulled you along, tugging at your gut - something cool, like mint, but sharp. You couldn’t place what it was, but you felt the urge to follow it none the less, the saying ‘curiosity killed the cat’ crossing your mind for a moment, but you were quick to dispel it.

The aroma was now so strong that it was almost overpowering the other odours around – you had to be getting close now – but there was nothing, or no one, in the corridor that stretched out ahead of you - not even a new, unusual plant that might explain the smell.

It must be coming from behind one of these doors.

You slowed, taking your time to check each doorway before you moved on. The smell almost stung your nostrils now and you moved from the door on your left to the one opposite it on your right. This was the strongest it had been, and you stared up at the door, thinking whether or not it would be a smart move to knock, when you suddenly heard a click of a mechanism and the door in front of you swung inwards.  
\----------------------------------------------------------------------

“Kid? Hey, kid - ” The wolf whistle that followed snapped you back to yourself, leaving only the vague, faded memory of a pair of long booted legs in your minds eye. “What’s up?”

“Hmm?” You blinked, dazed, and trying to remember where you were. Your eyes focused on the frowning figure of Tony Stark before you.

“What are you doing here?” He asked bluntly.

“Oh.” You said, suddenly remembering what was going on. “Uh-“

“Did you lose that damn cat again?”

“Oh – uh – no, I – uh – I don’t think so.” You said, trying to joke, though Tony didn’t look too amused by it so you hurried on. “No – I – uh – well I – I spoke to Steve,” You explained, back down the corridor, glancing over your shoulder as well, “– uh – Steve Rogers yesterday when I – erm – came to pick up Kali, and he – he mentioned that I might owe an apology to a certain God?” You questioned - wondering if Tony knew anything about this.

“Which one?” Stark muttered sarcastically under his breath with a slight eyeroll, clearly becoming a bit exasperated by the number of all-powerful beings living on his planet. “Ok, kid – yeah, sure.” He said nodding with a sigh, “Old Mighty-than-thou seems pretty alright about it all, but - if you feel you need to…” He said stepping aside and motioning down the corridor behind him.

You gave him small smile and took a step forward before you paused again. You could traipse the hallways opening everything single door to find where the thunder deity was, or you could just suck it up and ask. “Uh – which – uh-…” You stammered nervously, gesturing down the corridor as well.

Tony looked up from where he had already dropped his attention to the transparent phone-like device in his hand. “Uh - fifth –“ He glanced back down at the screen, something catching his eyes “- fifth door on the right.” He finished, glancing up to you only briefly before dropping his gaze again.

“Uh, thanks.” You mumbled, half wanting to ask if he’d come with you – after all this was a God you were talking about, couldn’t he smite you or something? - but you knew that would sound pathetic, and, besides, you already knew the answer despite barely knowing Stark. He was clearly busy and itching to get away.

Tony didn’t look up as you inched forwards again and, when you began to move with more purpose, he turned and headed in the opposite direction, flicking through something on his screen. You heard him call for JARVIS and begin to list of a set of instructions before he turned a corner and his voice faded out to an indistinct mumble. You continued down where Tony had pointed, counting the doors until you reached the fifth one on the right. You hesitated then, self-doubt creeping into your mind, questioning whether you had counted correctly, and you suddenly couldn’t remember if you had counted a third door or not…

Maybe you just shouldn’t do it? Even if this was the right door there was a still a God in there. A God. Of thunder. And maybe he didn’t want to be disturbed… Tony had said he was fine – that he had taken the insult from your cat pretty well… So, did you really need to apologise?

Just as you were convincing yourself it would be fine to turn around and leave, the door before you was pulled open to reveal a man that seemed to fill the entire doorway, his long blond hair pulled back to reveal his rugged face, and the simple T-shirt and jeans not able to his physique beneath – which to you, seem to be just pure muscle.

“Oh – uh – sorry,” He muttered quickly, just as surprised to see you stood in front of him. “Did I – uh – hit you or something?” He asked when you didn’t move or say anything, instead just stood there frozen and gawking up at him.

“Oh – uh – no, sir.” You said quickly, snapping back to yourself and ducking your head in embarrassment. “You – um – you just took me by surprise, that’s all.” You explained to his shoes.

“Oh, well – uh – my apologies.” He said, still clearly confused by your sudden appearance in his doorway. “Can I – er – help you?” He asked when you still didn’t move.

You could feel how shaky you were, and you still hadn’t managed to look up from the floor. “I – uh – I – I came to apologise.”

“For what?” Thor asked, confused.

“Uh – well – I was – uh – I was told my –“

Suddenly there was flash of green light behind the God and a disgruntled voice came from within the room. “Brother, you’re a fan of this wretched planet – maybe you can tell me what the hell this thing is.“ The man muttered, “Is it some Midgardian –“ Thor now stepped aside from the doorway to turn to the man, also revealing where you stood and making the familiar man falter.

You recognised the man immediately.

Loki. Thor’s so-called brother.

You couldn’t help dropping your eyes form the very villain that only a couple of years ago had been terrorising the very New York city that lay outside the window, however, as you did so, your eyes now recognised something else.

The black knee-high boots.

You let your eyes slowly scan up the rest of his body again now, taking in the odd, archaic robe-like attire, clearly armour in certain places, green and black in colour with gold accents. His hair was around the same length as Thor’s but a dark, raven black in colour instead, the strands swept back over his head to reveal his narrower, shrewder face. His eyes were what caught your attention though, the piercing green sharp and clear next to his pale skin, both of them staring straight back at you. You dropped your gaze again almost immediately.

“Brother, what is that?” Thor asked, breaking the silence that had fallen at your reveal. You couldn’t help glancing up again, intrigued and following where Thor gestured to Loki’s right hand which he had dropped on noticing you. You now saw he was holding something fairly large, black and seemingly furry.

“Kali…?” You breathed in disbelief, seeing the cat hanging by the scruff of her neck in Loki’s grasp, appearing completely at ease with her position - almost lax - her ear twitching lazily at the sound of your voice.

“That’s what this is?” Loki asked, hearing you, and now raising his hand again, lifting Kali higher into the air. Still the cat didn’t seem the least it fazed.

“I thought it was a ‘cat’.” Frowned Thor, confused.

“It is a cat.” You told them. “Her name is Kali.”

“You mean to tell me that this is the so-called ferocious beast that mauled you?” Loki asked in disbelief, glancing between the cat and Thor.

The thunder God muttered something under his breath in embarrassment sounding like ‘Well, not in so many words…”

Your mind had stuck on what Loki had said. “Mauled?!” You demanded. “She didn’t maul you!” You cried at Thor.

“And how would you know?” Loki asked, turning his eyes back on you, immediately making you shrink back, regretting your outburst.

“I – uh –“ You faltered nervously, and Loki narrowed his eyes at you suspiciously. “Because Capt – uh - Steve Rogers - told me that your brother was bitten,” You explained gesturing at the large muscular God next to you. “And, besides, Kali doesn’t maul people!”

“And you know this behaviour trait, how?” Loki asked mockingly, raising an eyebrow at you.

“Because she’s my cat!” You growled angrily.

“Wait - so your [Y/N]?” Thor broke in.

“Uh – yeah – yeah I am.” You nodded at him, suddenly remembering yourself, your cheeks colouring red, suddenly painfully aware that you’d just been arguing - rather angrily – with two supposed Gods – one of them a well-known villain. “Um – uh - that’s – that’s what I was trying to say earlier – I – uh – I came here to apologise.” You tried to explain in an attempt to excuse your behaviour. “That’s my cat,” You said, nodding back to where Kali continued to hang in Loki’s grasp, “and I’m really sorry she bit you…” You mumbled watching Kali “I – I can only think you frightened her or something…” You risked flicking your eyes briefly up to Loki, whose own gaze was regarding you with suspicion, before you quickly glanced away again - worried that his piercing green eyes would somehow see something in your face that would give you away.

Thor seemed oblivious to this nervous behaviour of yours - or at least put it down to you trying to seek pardon for your animal’s actions – and just grinned at you, “No harm, no foul.” He easily dismissed, waving a causal hand, “It was my own fault, of course.”

You let out a breath of relief. “Oh, thank you…” You breathed. “Thank you!” You insisted to the God, “I’m so sorry - so very sorry! Honestly, she’s not a bad cat! I –“ You glanced at Kali, “I – I can show you!” You suggested eagerly, “Really, she’s as good as gold when she’s not scared.” Your eyes beseeched at him.

At the mention of interacting with the beast again, a look of hesitation crossed Thor’s face, but he was quick to overcome it. “Uh – why not?” He finally smiled with a shrug. “Let us tame the beast.” He joked. You smiled at Thor’s willingness and now looked over at Loki who still held Kali, watching your conversation, unamused. “Loki, release the – uh - Kali.” Thor instructed, trying, and you couldn’t help smirking at his attempt. Loki rolled his eyes but handed Kali you anyway when you stepped into the room, reaching for her.

You gave Kali a reproachful look for her odd behaviour, still not even batting an eyelid at how she was being manhandled. She couldn’t seem to care less about anything and if you didn’t know better you’d think she’d swallowed a large quantity of catnip. Kali completely ignored the look you gave her, just meowing at you in greeting before then crawling from arms up onto the familiar spot on your shoulders.

You turned back to Thor as Kali now sat down, curling her tail around your neck. “She’s – uh –“ You glanced up at her, “she’s a bit smaller than most of her breed, but she always liked to sit up there, so I guess it’s a good thing she’s that size.” You chatted randomly.

Thor watched the creature with interest, though you could see the wariness in his eyes. “That’s her full size?” He asked.

You nodded. “Yep, pretty much.” You watched Thor back, narrowing your eyes, “You really don’t have cat’s where you’re from?”

His eyes flickered to yours. “Asgard boasts a wide range of flora and fauna,” He told you, “but few things appear to match to your word exactly.” He muttered, his attention mainly on Kali as she picked up one of her legs and began to lick the thick black fur. “Do you have ice worms?” He suddenly asked randomly, his eyes glancing back to yours.

“Ice what?”

“Large, cold, hideous creatures.” Thor shook his head at the thought. “They remove the very flesh from off your bones before leaving the rest encased in ice until the last of your heat leaves your body…”

You shivered at the very idea, “Uh – uh – no – no we don’t have – we don’t have those…” You stuttered out, staring at Thor in horror.

“Be thankful.” You heard Loki mutter. And, by god, you were.

“What about squirrels?” Thor asked, and you snapped your eyes back to him, almost surprised to hear something familiar, though already you had your doubts.

“Uh – well, we do…” You mumbled with a slight bob of your head. “But I’m starting to think they may not be the same as what you’re thinking…” You murmured cautiously, and you caught Loki’s lip quirk out the corner of your eye.

“Well, I only know one personally,” Thor explained, “but his – his job is to carry messages you see, and he has a tusk –“

You held up a hand. “I’m just gonna stop you right there,” You stated, and Thor looked at you oddly. “Mid – uh – Midgardian?” You asked, checking that was the right word, Thor nodded .and you thought you even saw Loki dip his head as well. “Midgardian squirrels,” You continued, “don’t carry messages and they definitely don’t have tusks…” You told the both of them, unable to hide a small smirk at the idea - it sounded like something out of a fairy tale and you almost wanted to ask if they spoke as well.

Thor looked surprised at the fact you didn’t have weird mutated rodents, and you were actually afraid to here anymore about the wildlife of Asgard in case it gave you nightmares - It didn’t exactly sound like an ideal holiday vacation. Kali seemed to notice your distress because she began to pad her feet lightly on your shoulder, massaging you reassuringly. You reached up to tickle behind her ears in thanks.

Thor noticed this. “Could I – uh –?“ He asked, gesturing to Kali.

You clicked what he meant. “Oh – yeah, sure, if you want to.” You said, tilting your body to move Kali closer to him. The cat’s gold eyes fell on Thor as he moved closer, her white tipped ears flicking with interest. She wasn’t scared and hostile this time and Thor wasn’t as brazen and naïve to her - they were both on more neutral ground.

Thor raised his hand to Kali, then glanced at you in question, amazing you that this God-like person needed reassurance from you. It was clear he didn’t want to get hurt again, but it was also clear that he didn’t want to scare Kali into hurting him. “Uh – go for the head, she – uh – likes a scratch behind the ears.” You advised, reaching up to show him the spot. Kali purred and rubbed herself into your hand.

Thor frowned at the noise but continued anyway, reaching his hand to find the same spot you were tickling. You pulled away to give him room and Kali nodded her head up, interested in the God’s large muscular hand, his smell unusual. The contact made Thor flinch back warily, but he soon realised there was no hostility to the motion, and returned to the same position, finally feeling the thick black fur.

He seemed to find the right spot because Kali was soon purring again and butting his arm. “What is that sound?” He asked, though he didn’t stop petting her.

“She’s purring – it – uh – it means she likes it – she’s happy.”

“It does?” You turned to where Loki was still watching, his arms now folded.

“Yeah, why?” You asked, puzzled, but Loki didn’t say anything, instead, just frowned at the cat on your shoulder. When it was clear he wasn’t going to answer, you turned back to Thor, deciding to ignore him in turn.

Thor seemed oblivious again to the tension between you and his brother. “Loki! You come and try this!” He smiled, glancing across at the man. “It’s very easy and very soft!” Thor laughed, mesmerised by his new ability to stroke a cat.

“No, thank you, brother.” Loki sneered, “I am only still here to find out why the beast was outside my door.” He muttered, his gaze now turning to you again and you swallowed the lump that quickly formed in your throat.

“That is a good question, actually.” Thor nodded, finally withdrawing his hand from Kali who looked rather annoyed to have lost scratching sensation. “Did you lose her again, [Y/N]?” He asked you, much friendlier than the glare his brother was giving you, but it still made you anxious.

“Oh – uh – well – uh…” You thought quickly, trying to come with an excuse you hadn’t thought to think of earlier. “She was… uh… with me…” You said, “And I – uh – I guess she got distracted and wandered off and I just didn’t realise.” You shrugged, trying to make it sound like no big deal and that they all might as well drop it.

“And you didn’t look for her before coming in here?” Loki asked, raising an eyebrow again, clearly not believing you.

“Well… uh – no.” You admitted. “I – uh – bumped into Tony on my way here and I didn’t even realise she was – uh – gone – so I – uh – I didn’t even think to look for her.”

“Pretty irresponsible.” Loki commented, something in his eyes taunting you, still saying they didn’t believe you.

You felt your cheeks burn, but you still glowered at the man, unwilling to be thought of as not caring about Kali. “Oh, like you don’t forget about things.” You growled.

“Very rarely.”

“Yeah, well, maybe that’s the same for me!” You sneered, “Maybe, that was one of my ‘very rare’ moments, hmm?”

Loki simply smirked at you almost triumphantly, like he had been trying to rile you up all along. You just scowled furiously. “You seem pretty mad.” He observed, the mischief clear in his eyes.

“Maybe that’s because I don’t like being told that I neglect what’s important to me.”

“I never said that.”

“You implied it.” You growled.

“Just seem rather odd…” He trailed off, hinting once again that he didn’t believe a word you were saying.

“No pet, no comment.” You muttered, trying to end the dangerous track the conversation had taken. “Look. I – uh – I’ve done what I came to do… I’d probably better go…” Before I’m interrogated any further by this criminal.

You noticed Loki smirk again. You were guilty, and he knew it. Guilty of what though, you just hoped he didn’t know.

“Right, of course.” Said Thor, who had been silently watching the back and forth between you and his brother. “I was supposed to be meeting Banner…” He suddenly remembered, glancing at the door – most likely where he had been heading off to before he found you on his doorstep.

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to waste your time!” You apologised, ignoring the eyeroll Loki gave you.

“No,” Thor chuckled, “it’s fine, I just may have missed my second breakfast, that’s all.” He teased.

You laughed, “Well, I think I can fix that.” You chuckled, suddenly remembering what was in your back. Thor lightly frowned as watched you shrug the rucksack off your shoulder and dig into its depths, pulling out a Tupperware box which held a small stack of pancakes. “St – uh – Rogers said that you liked them – I – uh – I meant to use them as a peace offering.” You mumbled, embarrassed by the stares.

Thor paused a moment, then let out a loud, deep laugh. “Wow, your creature can bite me more often!” He joked, taking the box you now held out to him.

Loki sidled up closer. “Next time you’re looking to apologise,” He muttered in your ear, “I’d lead with the food…”

“My way worked didn’t it?” You muttered back defensively.

He shrugged, “It’s just friendly advice.”

“From an unfriendly man.” You murmured under your breath, but he must have heard because you saw his lips twitch again.

“Uh, brother?” Loki now asked, raising his voice as he turned back to Thor. “The doctor?” He reminded him.

“Banner?” Realisation lit up in Thor’s eyes, “Oh, shit, yes, thank you Loki!” He muttered, ducking his head in embarrassment and turning for the door. “Oh - uh – it was nice to meet you Lady [Y/N],” He said, turning back to nod at you, “hope to see you around.” He said with a quick smile “And, brother.” He bade, giving a short nod to Loki too. With that, Thor then made a series of quick apologies before he strode quickly from the room, the box of pancakes still tucked under his arm.

You watched the God go, then repositioned your bag back on your free shoulder, suddenly aware you’d been left alone in a room with a war criminal and wanting to leave pretty much ASAP. You glanced over at Loki who still stood next to you. “I’ll – uh – I’ll head off then.” You muttered, fiddling with the shoulder strap of your bag. You doubted he really cared what you did, but it felt rude – despite who he was – to just walk out of the room without a word.

“May I walk you out?” He asked, oddly politely and you were forced to do a double take, sure you’d heard him completely wrong.

“Uh – I – uh – I’m more than capable of finding my way, thank you.” You murmured self-consciously, unable to look him in the eye now and starting to head for the door before Loki could say anything else that would make you pause.

“Try not to lose your cat again then, won’t you?” He muttered after you, his bad mood returning quickly and if you didn’t know better, you would have thought you’d hurt his feelings. “Next time I might step on it.” He sneered. “Or worse.” You shot him a last glance over your shoulder, scowling at the threat, but Loki just smirked back, an evil glint to his eye that had you thinking it might not just be an empty threat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, sorry this took so long! I promised someone I would get the next part out for the end of the week and, though I have technically done it, I’m aware I’m pushing it slightly! haha
> 
> I have no idea if this chapter is any good or not… I wasn’t sure about the last chapter either though, but you guys seemed to like it… I just hope the characters aren’t too ooc - for some reason I struggled with Thor - I didn’t want to use all archaic language, but I know he still uses some…. I dunno…


	3. Part 3

“Meow.”

You heard the sound from above you, making you glance up at where Kali sat watching you anxiously. “Look if you’re gonna be a literal scared-y cat and not help me, then keep your opinions to yourself and stay up there on guard.” You told her, your hair whipping around your shoulders and into your face and you wished you’d had the common sense to tie it out of the way before you started.

“You can understand that thing?” Came the other voice above you. You lifted your head again to see Agent Clint Barton looking down at you. 

“That ‘thing’ is Kali and she’s my oldest friend.” You muttered, returning your attention back to the open panel in front of you.

“And you understand her?” Clint continued to question in disbelief.

“When you’ve been with her as long as I have, trust me, you understand her.”

“And how long is that?”

“Since I was about nine, I think.” You said nonchalantly, your mind mostly of your work.

Clint furrowed his brow as he glanced between you and the cat sat at his feet. “Aren’t cats only supposed to live till they’re like ten or something?”

“I think the average is twelve.” You corrected him, not bothering to lift your head from where you were busy. Clint continued to watch you, waiting for further explanation that didn’t seem to be coming - your concentration elsewhere – so he let the conversation drop, glancing down at the black and brown cat who sat patiently by his feet, watching her owner below. It wasn’t his business if your cat was three or seventy-five, but it didn’t look old though.

“Can you toss the pliers?” You asked, breaking into Clint’s thoughts and he now bent to the small collection of tools next to him, sliding the pliers under the small gap between the glass pane barriers to where you could reach them.

“Thank you.” You sang, reaching up for them. You were glad you had managed to convince him to help, you weren’t sure you could have pulled this off otherwise – you knew Kali would have been annoyingly stubborn about helping you in an attempt to discourage you. It was easy to persuade people than cats.

You hadn’t specifically gone looking for Clint, but in hindsight you conveniently running into him as you snuck your way up the tower had been perfect. Even more perfect was, when you had found him, he’d been arguing with Tony. You had found the two of them talking heatedly in the centre of one of the many corridors and had quickly ducked behind the nearest corner - not wanting to be seen if you could help it – to listen in. You’d only managed to catch the end of the conversation, but it was clear Tony was being stubborn over something that was annoying the other man to no end. It hadn’t taken long for you to recognise the second man, having brushed up on you ‘Avengers’ knowledge ever since you’d worked out they were everywhere in this tower. This was clearly Agent Clint Barton known mainly for his archery skills and unique, custom-made arrows.

He’d be perfect to help. And he clearly had a grudge with Stark.

You hadn’t had to wait too long before Tony’s phone had gone off and your Uncle had chosen it as a good enough excuse to walk away from the Agent. Barton had yelled a few curses at the billionaire’s, but Tony had simply ignored him, luckily heading in the opposite direction to where you crouched.

“How much longer you gonna be?” Clint called over his shoulder, his back to you as he leaned on the balcony barrier, one ankle crossed over the other.

“A little bit longer, why?” You frowned, also not bothering to look over.

“’Cause we’ve got company.” He murmured, folding his arms.

You snapped your head up to the agent. “Who?”

“The adopted brother.” Clint muttered, sounding less than pleased.

“Loki?” You asked in disbelief. Shit. “Where is he?”

“Living room.”

“Well, go distract him!”

“And just how am I supposed to do that?” Clint murmured back at you, turning his head only slightly as he spoke, keeping up his appearance of chilling on the large balcony.

“I don’t know,” You called up to him with a shrug, “Head him off somehow - tell him a joke - shoot him with an arrow.” You suggested. “I don’t care.”

“Fine.” He grumbled, “But you owe me more than just my rope back.”

You rolled your eyes as the agent now pushed himself off the railing and headed to the glass balcony doors. It hadn’t taken much to convince Clint to help you. You had caught him in the corridor the minute Tony was no longer in sight and had quickly explained your plan before you begged him to let you use some of his equipment. Barton had liked the idea of messing with Stark but put up a fight over the risk you would be putting yourself at. You had stood firm though, simply stating that no matter whether he aided you or not, you were still going to do it. That hadn’t left the agent with much choice and he’d reluctantly agreed to help you – even offering to stand guard.

“Meow.”

“I told you,” You huffed at the electrical panel, “if you - wait what -?”

“What in Odin’s name are you doing?” Exclaimed the all too familiar voice above you and you felt your stomach drop.

“Uh –“ You stuttered, glancing up at where Loki stared down at you over the metal railing. You flickered your eyes between the electrical panel and his pale face. “W- What does it look like I’m doing?” You tried lamely, attempting to buy yourself time as you came up with an excuse.

He raised an eyebrow at your pathetic question. “It would seem you’re trying to get yourself killed.” He told you. “I can see no other reason why you would be suspended over the side of a balcony and talking to your creature…” He muttered, now glancing down at Kali. You also dropped your attention to the cat, surprised to find her now winding herself around Loki’s legs, rubbing her head against his boots. You scowled at her. Traitor.

“What is it doing?” He asked, baffled.

You sighed heavily. “It means she has terrible taste in people. Or gods.” You muttered. Loki glanced back at you, knowing you had just slighted him, but still confused. You groaned, rolling your eyes, “It means she likes you – she wants attention.” You muttered bitterly, glowering at Kali as she obliviously continued to wrap herself around the god. Someone wasn’t sleeping on your bed tonight.

Loki continued to watch the creature’s odd behaviour for a moment before he glanced back down at you, finding you had now returned your attention to your work. He scowled, checking around him before leaning over the railing again. “Will you come back up here before you kill yourself.” He muttered crisply. “Or worse.” He added.

“What’s worse?” You asked, conversationally, not lifting your gaze from the wires you now attempted to unravel.

Loki glowered down at you “Oh, I can think of a few things…” He growled down at you. When, still, you made no move to do as he asked, Loki lifted his head to glance out over the city that sprawled miles towards the horizon. He let out a short, sharp breath before dropping his gaze back to where you hung from Agent Barton’s enhanced rope below him “Please.” He stressed through gritted teeth at you as though it was painful. “Your Midgardian fragility is making me uneasy.” He confessed.

“And what do you care if I fall? I though you don’t care about Midgardian lives?” You said, sharply withdrawing your hand when you accidentally managed to shock yourself on a piece of the panel.

“I don’t.” He agreed. “But that’s exactly why I’ll be blamed if you do so decide to fall to your death.” He pointed out. “Stark’s got recording devices everywhere - between me and the ‘dear agent’, who do you think he’ll believe responsible for snuffing out a petty Midgardian life?”

“Well you’ve got me there…” You muttered sarcastically, rolling your eyes. You suddenly frowned, glancing up at Loki, “What happen to Barton anyway? He was supposed to be distracting you.”

Loki’s lips twisted into a sly smirk. “Well he distracted me…” He muttered, glancing back at the balcony doors, “Just the wrong me…”

You frowned - momentarily confused by this - before you remembered the research you had also done on villain currently stood above you, it had been reported that he was able to create illusions. This man just kept getting scarier and scarier.

You turned your gaze back to the wiring in front of you. “Well – uh – look, tough break.” You shrugged, trying to not think about the fact you had a powerful, murderous god stood above. “I’m not coming back up till I’m done.”

“Done with what, dare I ask?”

You pursed you lips, glancing up at the villain again, the wind also whipping strands of his hair, though most of it was safely tucked behind his ears. Something in you oddly wanted to tell him, though you weren’t sure why, and you had to wonder if it was some of his weird magic. He was a bad man after all, a murder, a liar, a manipulator. Yet he didn’t want you to fall to your death, a small voice in the back of your mind pointed out. Yet that had only been to save his own skin. Still, it had to say something that he wasn’t such a cold-hearted killer that he murdered people willy-nilly without care for the consequences…

Ok, now you really were just clutching at straws.

You scowled you at Loki. “You’ve got to promise not to tell Tony,” You stipulated, “- or Pepper,” You added. “- or anyone that would in turn tell them.”

“So, keep it a secret?” He summed up, raising an eyebrow at your poor attempt at words.

You thought about this, “Yes.” You nodded.

Loki sighed impatiently. “If I do, will you hurry up?”

“Possibly.” You allowed.

He rolled his eyes. “Fine.”

“Cross your heart?”

“What?” Loki asked, bewildered.

“Cross your heart?” You tried again.

“You want me to cross my heart?” He frowned.

“Yeah, you know… ‘Cross my heart and hope to die…“ You hinted, then saw the blank look on his face. “Oh, you don’t know it…” You realised. “Well its –“

Loki a hand over the railing so it was visible to you, opening his mouth to stop you. “I can tell this is going to be long story,” He interrupted, “so could we perhaps not do it whilst you are handing off a ledge?” He questioned.

“Oh – right – yeah.” You nodded, embarrassed, “Well, basically, just swear you’ll maim or kill yourself if you tell anyone.” You summed up quickly.

Loki raised an eyebrow at this. “Seems a bit barbaric…” He mused. “But fine.”

“Good.” You nodded, happily, glancing back at your work. “Hey, could you pass me my screwdriver, I think it’s rolled away.”

Loki seemed to falter at your request, but then glanced around, noticing the small pile of tools and crouching next to it. “This?” He asked.

“No, that’s a spanner.” You corrected.

“This?” He asked, picking up another tool.

“No, that’s my blowtorch.” You sighed in exasperation, closing your eyes, and the next thing Loki knew, a tool was being batted towards his foot by a black paw. Loki glanced up at the cat in surprise, staring into the creature’s eyes for a moment before he warily reached for the ‘screwdriver’. He straightened slowly, still watching the beast who just sat there, swishing its tale innocently, watching him back with the same intrigue.

Loki broke away from the blue gaze to lean back over the railing. “This?” He asked down at you.

“What?” You blinked, dazed. “Oh - yeah.” You took a deep breath, your current position making your head spin more than it usually and even a bit nauseous. You reached for the screwdriver nonetheless as Loki handed it down towards you, trying to act normal, but your fingers still felt numb and somehow the tool slipped through your fingers, plummeting towards the earth. “Shit.” You muttered to yourself as both you and Loki watched it fall rapidly out of sight.

“You know, that could be you in a minute.” You heard Loki point out above you.

You glanced up at him. “Gee! Thanks for that cheerful thought!” You snarked. “I should have a spare one somewhere.” You observed and, without being asked, Loki ducked back behind the barrier, this time knowing what he was looking for and not needing the cat’s aid.

You took this one from him more carefully, ensuring you had a firm grip.

“You know, you may well have just impaled someone with that tool.” Loki pointed out breezily, now leaning casually on the rail, looking out over the city, clearly having resigned himself to waiting for you to finish.

“Well, aren’t you just the concerned citizen?” You muttered sarcastically. “But, don’t you worry, I thought these things through,” You reassured him with a smirk. “Directly below is a metal awning, even if it did manage to go through that, it should slow it down enough to reduce any real damage.” You shrugged. Loki raised an eyebrow at you. “Most it’ll do is probably make a loud noise and scare some pigeons…” You muttered as you set to work on unscrewing one of the bolts.

Loki lifted his gaze to the cityscape again, the sun directly above them shining off the hundreds of windows. “Are you going to tell me what you’re doing then?” He asked out at the horizon.

“Oh right, yeah.” You remembered, glancing up over your shoulder at him as you placed the screwdriver on the very edge of the balcony, posting it safely under the gap at the bottom of the glass pane. “Long story short, I’m hacking the tower.”

He raised his eyebrows at you in surprise. “And this requires dangling yourself off the edge of said tower?”

“Yep.” You nodded, then gasped as you shocked yourself, sucking your finger. “Stark has all the security in the world on the inside of the tower,” You explained, shaking your injured hand, before reaching for the pliers in your back pocket. “But, once again, he underestimates my determination.” You said, shaking your head as you now cut through a wire.

“So, you’re…?”

“Well, I spent a few days mapping where these panels would be and then deciding the perfect one to gain access to.” You explained, “All it takes is a bit if tinkering…” You muttered, twisting the cut wire back into place. “And…. Done!” You declared, now reaching for your phone in your back pocket. You unlocked it and typed in the necessary codes. “Rudimentary,” You commented at the screen, “but it’ll do for now. The rest I can do at a desk.” You murmured, pocketing the device again. You shifted uncomfortably, the rope starting to cut into you now, and began to position yourself to climb back up. “Could you – uh - help me up?” You glanced up at Loki who was still watching you. “As you’re here?” Loki rolled his eyes but dropped his arm down to you anyway, gripping your forearm with one hand and pulling on the rope with the other.

You were halfway up the balcony when you caught movement behind the glass balcony doors. Shit. “Put me down! Put me down!”

“What?” Loki demanded, glancing down at you bewildered.

“Just put me back down!” You whispered urgently. “Now!” Loki furrowed his brow in confusion but lowered you back to your original position anyway.

“What are you doing out here?” You heard a woman’s voice question Loki suspiciously.

Loki straightened up quickly. “Agent…” He muttered turning around and leaning casually back against the barrier to hide you from sight, feeling something brush up against his leg as Kali slipped behind him. “I’m simply enjoying the view…” He drawled lazily.

Natasha Romanoff eyed him disbelievingly. “Right, sure….” She nodded, her eyes flickering out to the city scape and then back to him. “Uh - You haven’t seen your brother, have you?”

You gasped quietly as something heavy fell onto you head, but then a familiar black tail fell in front of your face and you breathed a sigh of relief.

“I’m afraid I have not, agent.” You heard Loki inform the agent politely. “May I suggest the kitchen?”

Romanoff lips twitched with forced humour, but she still was clearly not convinced about Loki’s innocence. Before she could say anything else though, Agent Barton stepped through the balcony doors. “Oh uh –“ He paused taking in the scene in front of him and, where you were hidden, you silently smacked your head against the side the balcony. “Uh-“

“Clint?” Romanoff turned to him with a frown. “What’s going on?”

“Oh, I just came to – uh - find you!” He declared, glancing over at Loki who kept his face blank, then down at Loki’s feet, wondering if you were still hiding.

“Oh?” Natasha asked, sceptically.

“Uh – yeah – do you mind?” Clint asked, jabbing his thumb over his shoulder back into the tower.

“Uh… Sure.” She nodded shortly, glancing back at Loki warily before following Clint back through the glass doors.

Loki watched the two agents leaving, leaning forward and craning his neck slightly to follow them until the floor was completely empty again. Once he was confident they were gone, he turned back to find you already pulling yourself back up the balcony, the cat perched contently on your head. Without you even needing to ask, Loki reached down to help you the rest of the way, his god-like strength making the job a lot easier. Kali made the most of the new bridge this formed and scrambled up Loki’s sleeve before lithely jumping back onto the balcony.

You swung your leg over the railing and dropped onto the marble, slightly out of breath from the climb. “Phew, thank you.” You smiled gratefully up at Loki, straightening out your clothes, “I officially feel safe to say – that was terrifying.” You laughed giddily.

“Perhaps that will stop you from repeating the activity again any time soon.” He muttered down at you.

You glanced up at him, feeling your cheeks warm. “Perhaps.” You smirked. “Now, if you don’t mind, I’ve had a few too many close calls today, so I think I’d best be getting home.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I haven’t written any Loki for a while, so I thought I’d take the day to write the next part! I came up with this random idea late last night after 24 hours with barely any sleep so it could be completely mad, and too weird, but I felt like giving it a go! haha
> 
> I’m still not really sure where I’m going with this story, I feel like I’m just writing a lot of oneshots that slightly link up… I guess we’ll just have to wait and see if I ever actually come up with much of a plot haha


	4. Part 4

Your eyes were on your phone as you travelled down the elevator to the ground floor, beginning to set up the necessary connections between the tower’s system and your own. Kali remained perched on your shoulder, preoccupied with cleaning one of her front paws till something seemed to catch her attention and she glanced up, meowing indignantly in your ear.

“Don’t start at me.” You muttered up to her moodily, not bothering to lift your gaze. “You’ve got some explaining to do yourself.”

“Does she now?”

Your head snapped up at the familiar voice and you jumped, making Kali claws sink painfully into your shoulder. “Jesus-“ You gasped, finding Loki leaning against the wall opposite you in the small metal box, his arms crossed and an eyebrow raised in question at you. “I managed to survive hanging over a hundred-foot drop, but you’re going to kill me with a heart attack.” You muttered, lifting a hand to your chest, feeling your heart beating erratically beneath your palm.

“Now that would be a shame…” Loki drawled, not sounding particularly like he meant it.

You scowled at the trickster. “Can I – uh - help you?” You asked confused, “I did thank you, right?”

“You did.” He confirmed with a simple nod. “But I find myself intrigued by you now, my dear.” He admitted smoothly.

“Well that can’t be good…” You muttered as the elevator now pinged its arrival at the ground floor, the doors sliding open. You glanced at Loki cautiously then stepped out, not overly surprised when the god followed after you. You felt Kali tense on your shoulder, her talons curling back into your skin again and you frowned up at her as you walked, noticing how she also watched Loki with a certain amount of caution – surprising given her previous behaviour towards him which you could only describe as fondness. What shocked you even more though, was the hiss she gave Loki when he seemed to step too close you, and the threatening swipe of her paw that followed - claws unsheathed. Loki faltered at this, blinking in astonishment at the attack and you also paused, turning to him in surprise at glancing up at Kali. “Huh,” You muttered, amazed, “Maybe you’re more loyal than I thought…” You smirked, lifting a hand to ruffle her head. Kali ignored the attention, her posture still stiff and he gaze glued to Loki, daring him to make another wrong move. You snorted lightly at how the tables had turned and continued on your way down the large corridor towards the tower’s exit.

“So – uh – “ You said, Loki following after you again - his long legs easily catching you, though he made sure to maintain a safe distance from Kali now - “What is it exactly that intrigues you?” You asked.

“Your behaviour is… Odd…” He admitted, his eyes still on the cat creature. “On our first encounter it was clear you were afraid of me – rightly so.” he observed, and you felt your cheeks warm, keeping your eyes ahead as you walked down the corridor. “But in more recent meetings you seem… Woefully arrogant in your dealings with me…” He mused, his green eyes now dropping to you.

“So, your annoyed that I haven’t shown you enough fear?” You asked, glancing over at him.

“Annoyed would mean anything you did actually affected me.” He pointed out with a bored expression. “I am merely wondering where you find such confidence that I shall not harm you for your insolence.”

“Other than the fact you haven’t yet?” You smirked with a raised eyebrow, but Loki just glowered back at you, clearly not impressed. You sighed heavily, turning your gaze back to the corridor in front of you again. “The truth is, I am afraid of you,” You confessed, “Terrified in fact – I saw what happened in New York even though I wasn’t here – I watched the news,” You told him, staring down at the floor as you walked “Got a few more details off Tony too,” You confessed, “and he’s definitely not your biggest fan.” You reminded him. “But,” You stressed, “there was no point in me being scared when I was dangling over the side of the building – it wasn’t like I could do anything if you did chose to kill me there and then.” You pointed out. “And right now…” You trailed off, glancing over at the god where he watched you with what you could only think was interest, “Well, we both know you’re not really here.”

Loki raised an eyebrow at you. “I’m impressed.” He admitted.

“Thanks…?” You asked - also raising an eyebrow - assuming this was supposed to be a compliment from the man. “If it helps with your whole ‘fearing’ thing, you weren’t supposed to be on the balcony.” You told him. “I was actually planning to try to avoid you as much as possible.”

“Is that so?” He asked, raising his brows at you.

“Well – yeah,” You said, now pausing to turn to him, tilting your head. “Seems a bit daft to put myself in harms way when it’s not necessary.” You explained.

“Self-preservation.” He commended with a nod, “Something that, it seems, most people around here lack.” He muttered almost bitterly. You opened your mouth to argue that the Avengers were helping other people, but then remembered Loki was unlikely to care about this - seeing as they were saving Midgardian lives - and instead just closed your mouth, shaking your head.

“Was there anything else you – uh - needed?” You muttered.

He paused, glancing between you and Kali where she perched on his shoulder. “I don’t believe so.” He admitted, though his eyes seemed to say otherwise. “Good luck with your… ‘Hacking’.” He muttered, then nodded formally in farewell before the image of him flickered with a golden haze, not unlike a hologram, and he suddenly disappeared.

You continued to state at the empty space for a minute - trying to process what exactly had just happened – and reaching a hand up to absentmindedly stroke Kali who had shifted herself comfortably back down on your shoulder now her agitation was gone.

Eventually, you pulled yourself from your thoughts and continued out the towers door, heading home to see what you could with the your new tower computer system before Tony caught on.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------

“I swear I haven’t looked at anything!” You insisted earnestly.

“Oh, bullshit!” Pepper exclaimed angrily. “Why else would you hack into the system?!” She demanded, throwing her arms in the air. When Tony had found out he had, of course, told your aunt and she was mad – so mad that she had dropped whatever she had been doing and stormed straight over.

You grimaced where you stood in the middle of the room. “I just wanted to see if I could!” You confessed, “There are few real challenges around…”

Tony, oddly, hadn’t been mad apparently - if anything, he’d been impressed. Seemed like you were impressing everyone recently. Except maybe your aunt.

“Challenges?!” She demanded furiously. “Next you’ll be telling me you’re trying to break into the CIA or SHIELD!” She cried, exasperated. “No!” She said told you sternly, spotting the look on your face. “Don’t get any ideas.” She growled. She sighed loudly, rolling her neck and eyes. “God, your worse than Tony!” She exclaimed. “No – you know what, that’s giving him too much credit – you’re as bad as Tony!” She stressed. “Which is really saying something! You two have no care for your own safety!”

“I’ve been told I have good self-preservation.” You muttered under your breath, making Pepper glare at you. “Why is hacking Tony’s system having no care for my safety?!” You asked. “It’s not like I hacked Hydra!”

Pepper cringed at the idea. “You don’t understand – you might as well have!” She exclaimed. “Or close!” She urged, exasperated, when she saw you roll your eyes at her. “Tony’s job isn’t safe, [Y/N]! There are secrets on that system that could make you a target for some bad people!” She insisted earnestly. “I worry enough about Tony as it is! I don’t want to have to be worrying about you as well - at least tony can largely fend for himself!” She pointed out.

At that point, Kali padded out from behind the nearby sofa, striding importantly over to you and winding around your legs. “Kali can protect me.” You pointed out, gesturing down at the cat who wove her way between your ankles and now broke away, heading in the direction of your bedroom.

Pepper snorted at the retreating tail that curled contently as it swung with Kali’s steps. “Funny.” She muttered.

“It’s true.” You maintained, “Besides, I don’t need protection unless I read something,” You stressed, “And I haven’t! – I haven’t had any time! - Tony’s response to my intrusion was faster than I thought it would be!” You insisted honestly.

“See, why don’t I believe you?” Pepper quipped.

“You’re my aunt!” You cried and across your vision you suddenly saw a flash image of your bedroom – of your desk.

“That’s why I know better.” Pepper was saying.

You rolled your eyes in exasperation, fighting the daze feeling that threatened your mind. “Fine,” You muttered, seeing a flash of your computer screen - the keyboard - the mouse. “You – uh – you want to check my computer?” You demanded, “Go ahead, check my computer!” You saw the paw on the mouse, pulling it down, batting it sideways. A click. “There’s nothing on there!” You told Pepper, your vision slightly blurry now and praying the clicking of the keyboard you heard was in your mind and no actually audible from where you and your aunt stood.

“You know what? I think I will.” Pepper agreed, calling your bluff. “If only to put my mind at some sort rest.” She muttered, now heading past you to your bedroom, heading through the doorway as Kali slipped past her legs and headed back over to you. She wound herself around your ankles again, purring as she rubbed against you.

“You’re a little genius.” You murmured down at her, bending to pick her up. She snuggled herself into your chest as you held her, then rolled over to lie on her back in your arms, looking up at you imploringly. “Yes, ok, you’re forgiven you.” You sighed at her behaviour. “Don’t go all gooey on me.” You reprimanded lightly. Kali reached up a paw to gently bat your cheek. “You’re a pain in my ass.” You murmured, flicking her ear back just as lovingly. She meowed contently as Pepper now walked back out of your room.

“So?” You asked her pleasantly, knowing the answer, but your heart still beat worriedly.

“You’re in the clear.” Your aunt muttered, though her eyes were still suspicious as she regarded you. “For now.” She allowed.

“Thank you.” You smiled smugly, and Pepper glowered at you, not impressed, but she had wasted enough time on the matter for now – having a company to run that she urgently needed to get back to - you grinned at her back as she now walked back out of the flat.

“You’d think I was still 16 or something.” You muttered to Kali as you carried her back into your room, setting her on the desk next to your computer. You settled back into your chair, holding out a hand as Kali now padded over to the corner of your desk, retrieving the memory stick she had stashed behind the stack of folders. She sashayed back to you proudly, dropping the device into your open plan. “Pleasure doing business with you.” You grinned, closing your hand.

It wasn’t everything Tony had on the tower’s system, but it was the folders you had the most interest in, and now you could take your time to go through it. However, your perusal of the contents would have to wait, there was still a fair amount of encryption you’d have to break through first, so you set up your computer begin its work on the security, then locked your own computer – just in case Pepper decided to come back for a double check.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
You weren’t surprised that Tony had also wanted to see you – now heading down the familiar tower corridors to where you’d been told he was - what you were surprised about though, was when you saw Agent Clint Barton jogging down the corridor towards you. “Hey, kid!” He called, catching sight of you.

“Agent?” You asked, widening your eyes in surprise.

“I’m glad I caught you.”

“You are?” You frowned, concerned, then saw the look in his eyes. “Did Agent Romanoff find out about the balcony?”

“No, no, I distracted Tash – but, um –“ You could see in his face what he was reluctant to tell you.

“Pepper knows, doesn’t she?”

Clint made a face and then nodded reluctantly.

“And you’re the one that told her?” You guessed.

“Ah… Yeah.” He admitted guilty. “Look, [Y/N], I’m really sorry, its jut –“

“Did you mention Loki?” You interrupted him.

“What?” He frowned, confused, “Uh – no - I wasn’t sure what his role was in it all…”

“Well, don’t.” You said firmly. “He wasn’t there.”

“Right…” Clint looked at you, bewildered, “Why?”

You shrugged. “He helped me - this is me repaying the debt.” You said simply.

Clint didn’t seemed completely convinced, but he eventually nodded, understanding your reasoning. “Alright.” He agreed. “But, kid, I’m am really sorry though, I wasn’t going to say anything, but –“

“Don’t worry,” You dismissed, shaking your head, “She breaks the strongest of us – just look at Tony.” You smirked, gesturing towards the door ahead of you where you were to meet Stark.

Clint laughed at that and patted you on the shoulder, sincerely wishing you good luck with a pitying smile before he jogged off again, leaving you to continue to Tony and knowing that you were now going to have another, even more uncomfortable conversation with Pepper.

You weren’t sure you could worm your way out of this one either.

You reached the lab you’d been told you’d find Stark in, and rapped on the door, waving through the viewing window next to it at Tony where he was working with his friend, and fellow avenger, Dr Banner. Tony glanced up from where he seemed to be soldering something, and waved you in, pulling off his protective face mask. You pushed open the door and greeted Banner who glanced up with a friendly smile before ducking back to work, unsurprisingly not wanting to be a part of this conversation.

“Well, if it isn’t, [Y/N] - the hacker of the century!” Called Tony, pulling his safety gloves as he moved around the edge of the room, dropping the gloves on the side and picking up a screwdriver. “Have a seat.” He gestured vaguely at the stool-like chair near the centre of the room next to one of the desks covered in papers and notebooks full of scribbled numbers.

You blushed. “Sorry about that…” You muttered shamefully, pushing yourself up onto the chair.

“No, you’re not.” Tony said simply pointing the tool at you as he continued to move amongst the large technology units that flashed with numerous lights as they worked. You made a face, having to give him that, then watched as your uncle turned his back on you, tapping a few screen transparent screens on the wall that seemed to show different monitors for some process they were working. Suddenly he turned around, clapping his hands together and looking at you again. “But that’s not why I asked you here.” He exclaimed.

“It’s not?” You asked, surprised.

“Nope – though I gotta commend you on it, kid.” He observed, pointing the tool at you again, and your felt your cheeks warm once more. “No,” Tony continued, now pacing slowly in front of you, twirling the screwdriver between his hands. “I wanted to talk to you about a little video I watched.”

“And – uh - what video is that?” You asked hesitantly, not seeing at all where this was going and getting worried.

“The security footage of the ground floor.”

Understanding flickered in your eyes. “Oh.” You mumbled.

“’Oh’ doesn’t quite sum up my feelings about it, sweetheart.” Tony growled sharply, and you sensed something simmering under the surface of his calm façade, making even Bruce glanced up in concern. “Wanna tell me why you were walking alone with our less-than-friendly god?”

“Well, technically it was his illusion.” You pointed out.

“You think that’s the important part of this?!” Tony demanded angrily, slamming his hands on the nearest surface, making you flinch as he now leant towards where you sat.

“I – uh -” You stammered, not sure what to say. You’d only ever seen him annoyed, never mad, and you didn’t like it - Pepper’s anger you knew, Stark’s was new to you.

“Are you not aware of this thing called the news?! Have you not listened to anything I’ve ever said about that man?!” He demanded, pushing himself back upright. “He is dangerous!” He exclaimed, pacing again, Manipulating! Conniving! The only reason he is here is because Thor has vouched for him – but doesn’t mean he is anyway trustworthy - and definitely doesn’t mean you should anywhere near him!”

“Ok, I’m sorry!” You said quickly, holding out your hands in surrender. “I didn’t mean for it to happen, he just – uh - he just kind of appeared…” You explained, waving your hands to demonstrate this. “I honestly have no intention of ever seeing him again – In fact I intend to purposefully avoid him.”

“As any smart person would.” Banner commented from where he worked, his head still down, in the corner of the room.

“Exactly.” You nodded at the doctor. Tony eyed you sceptically. “I promise Tony, I know he’s dangerous – very dangerous.” You insisted.

“Alright, kid.” Tony eventually allowed, and you breathed a silent sigh of relief.

Tony was silent for a minute, his head down, as though collecting himself. You glanced around the room awkwardly. “Uh – is there – uh - anything else?” You asked cautiously.

“No. You’re good to go, kid.” Tony muttered, his gaze on the floor. “Unless you’ve got something else you wanna tell me?” He asked suspiciously, glancing over at you.

“No – nope - don’t think so.” You said quickly, pursing your lips and shaking your head.

“Alright.” Stark nodded, already turning his back to you, his attention back on another screen, flipping open a nearby panel on a machine and beginning to tinker with it.

You smiled, glad that was over with and went to push yourself out of your chair. Suddenly the door of the lab was thrown open and you froze, eyes wide.

“You hung yourself off the side of the building?!” Pepper yelled, heels clicking on the tiled floor as she stormed into the room.

Tony half turned at the intrusion, stunned, and you cringed, biting your lip and sinking back down into your chair - knowing you weren’t going anyway anytime soon…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so I’m really proud of this chapter for some reason - I think just because I really enjoyed writing it, though the parts don’t particularly flow well….
> 
> I still have no idea idea where I’m going with this story tbh, so each chapter is as much of a surprise to me as they are to you! haha
> 
> I just hope the characters aren’t too ooc!


	5. Part 5

“I just - I just - ” Pepper glanced over at you as the two of you made your way down New York, deciding it better to walk than hail a cab – by the speed Pepper was striding it was clear she wanted to walk off some of her emotions. “I really can’t believe you.” She finally managed out again – repeating the same comment for the umpteenth time. 

Once Pepper had stormed into the room, you had nothing to do but let it all out then – the hanging off the side of the tower, the time alone with Loki - “I can’t believe you were alone with _him_ of all people!” She exclaimed hysterically, “Do – do you honestly have a death wish?!”

“It was just one of his illusions…” You muttered guiltily under your breath. You had decided best not to tell her that Loki had been on the balcony with you – dangling off the side of the tower was probably enough for her really – not need to stress her out over the fact a mass murder had been standing above you the whole time with no one else to be able stop him if he chose to attempt anything.

Despite your low volume murmur, Pepper heard the comment, now pausing in the middle of the street and turning to face you straight on in the middle of the busy pavement. “You _really_ don’t understand, do you?!” She demanded frantically at you, throwing her arms up in exasperation. “Haven’t you ever stopped to consider what could go wrong?! Go so _easily_ wrong?!” She exclaimed. “You know what?” She said shaking her head and waving her arms as though clearing everything that had been said, wiping her hands of it. “You’re grounded!” She declared simply before striding off again.

You looked after her retreating back in disbelief, your mouth open in disbelief at this. “W-wait!” You exclaimed, jogging after her. “Pepper! Please!” You protested in annoyance, “Come on! You _can’t,”_ You whined, “I’m not a teenager anymore!”

Pepper stopped again at this, letting out a short sigh of exhaustion. “No, you’re not.” She agreed, eyeing you sternly, “And I’m not your mother either.” She admitted, “ _But._ I _can_ ban you from that tower.” She pointed back down the street without looking to where the Avengers Tower still loomed behind you. She saw the look on your face as you glanced back at where the tall glass building towered. “I’m just trying to keep you safe.” She insisted, her voice softening slightly, and you glanced back at her, able to see the worry in her face now her anger had dissipated. You did feel bad, you forgot that what you did didn’t only affect you anymore – that people cared.

“ _But_ ,” Pepper’s face clouded over sternly again, though there was something less dangerous in it now, “– if you _still_ manage to find trouble _elsewhere_ I will not hesitate to ground your adult ass.”

You smirked weakly at your aunt, “Noted.” You murmured, ducking your head.

“Good.” Pepper nodded, still trying to sound firm, then her frown collapse and she smirked back at you. “Now. Come on - I can’t be bothered to cook tonight,” She flung her arm around your shoulder, “– you want Chinese?” She asked.

You nodded weakly, “Sounds good.” You murmured gratefully, glad the air between you had largely been cleared, letting her steer you towards home.

* * *

“So, this is where the genius works, hmm?”

You spun around in your desk chair to face your bedroom doorway where Tony Stark had seemingly materialised. “Tony.” You greeted, frowning in confusion, “What are you…”

“You hacked my system.” Tony said as if, somehow, this was a way of an explanation.

“Didn’t Pepper already make me apologise for that?” You muttered, spinning round in your chair to face your desk again, just wanting to put the whole situation behind you.

“I’m not looking for an apology…” Tony explained, now striding casually into the room, absentmindedly picking up a cat toy which sat on your bedside table near the door. “I’m looking for an employee.” He admitted down at the stuffed mouse, twirling the small creature between his fingers.

“What?” You frowned, pausing in your work and pushing your self quickly around in your chair to face him again.

“I want you to come work for me.” Tony said quickly, now tossing the toy carelessly onto the bed where it bounced and rolled before Kali suddenly leapt up from the other side of the mattress, landing on it and pinning it under her feet. You watched Kali roll onto her back, the material of the mouse catching on her claws as she pawed at it above her. “Well - for the Avengers.” He corrected, swaying his head uncaring at the technicality.

“Uh – doing what, exactly…?” You asked uncertainly.

Tony perched on the edge of your duvet, his back to kali who happily entertained herself, occasionally letting out a meow at the mouse. “I want you to do what you did.” He said simply.

You furrowed your brow at him in confusion, “Aren’t you more than capable of doing that?”

“That’s beside the point -” Stark tried to argue.

“Tony.“ You sighed, shaking you’re head, “You – you had _one_ crack – _one_ –“ You insisted, “in your security! You even knew it was there – “

“True.” He interrupted, pointing a finger at you, “And I _could_ do it.” He confirmed with a nod. “But, see, I‘m more of a detail man,” He explained, gesturing at his chest, “Whilst you,” He gestured both his hands towards you now, “ _You,_ seem to have a knack for spotting loop holes.” He observed.

“It was one time –“ You continued to protest, shaking your head anxiously.

“MIT?” Tony questioned with a raised brow, standing up, “SHIELD?” He questioned, stepping towards you with wide eyes. “Oh yeah, kid,” He scoffed, “I know all about that one.”

You ducked your head, biting your lip. You shouldn’t be surprised really – Tony probably hacked them as well – hell you’d seen some of his viruses at work when you’d been breaking into their databases. “ _Please_ tell me you didn’t tell Pepper about them?” You muttered at your lap, praying. It wasn’t for your sake - you didn’t really care about another lecture from her - but you honestly didn’t want to stress your aunt out anymore than you already had. Especially not when the dust had barely settled on the last trouble you’d caused.

Tony’s face softened slightly, seeing the worry on your face. “I haven’t said a word and I don’t plan to.” He informed you. “But I want you to work for me.”

“I’m grounded.” You gestured around the room. It wasn’t strictly true, but you were definitely banned from the tower and you decided it was probably best if you tried to confine yourself to the apartment for a bit to show Pepper you were serious when you said you were sorry.

“You’re an adult woman.” Tony reminded you shamelessly. “Plus,” He slipped a hand into his jacket pocket, pulling out a USB stick which he held in the air. “Pepper doesn’t need to know.” He smirked.

“And that’s…?” You murmured, eyes on the stick.

“Something to warm ya up.” Tony tossed it to you and you caught it easily. “I want it back in an hour. Tops.” He informed you, turning for the door. “‘Else you’re off the team.” He called back lightly.

“Wait - what?” You asked in surprise.

“I believe in ya, kid.” Was all he called back in response and all you could do was just scowl at your empty doorway, glancing down at the little device in your hand.

* * *

You walked the corridors of the tower openly and without a care, despite the niggling feeling int eh back of your mind telling you to at least be more discrete.

What did you care, though? You might be banned from the Avenger’s Tower, but Kali certainly wasn’t.

You turned down one of the many corridors. The problem with this form, though, was your inability to access certain parts of the building: you couldn’t use the stairwell thanks to the fire doors being too heavy, and even the elevator was a struggle, it being quite a stretch – literally – to reach the buttons to call the lift, then even more so to choose the correct floor.

The breeze from nearby ajar window ruffled your fur and accentuated the swing of the USB device tied to your collar as you turned yet again, knowing the elevator you required was at the end of a couple more corridors. That breeze, however, also brought a scent along with it besides the usual cut grass and fumes of New York, a familiar, sweet, almost minty scent. You couldn’t place it straight away until you froze as a figure suddenly appeared at the opposite side of the long hallway and he, in turn, faltered slightly at spotting you. Loki raised his eyebrows at you, surprised and questioning his discovery of you whilst he’d seemingly just been wandering, bored and lost in thought, around the floors of the tower.

You suddenly remember that scent – the same one from about a week ago when you’d been tracking it down one of the tower’s corridors – the scent that had led you to Loki’s door.

You had a strong urge to turn on your heels and run in the opposite direction, but something inside you bit this down, and instead you found yourself sashaying playfully towards where Loki stood, flicking your tail in interest. Loki watched, slightly bemused, as you wandered towards him, letting out a meow you’d never meant to release. You were feeling something you’d never felt before. Like you were losing control – like Kali was… like she was _fighting_ you. All you could do was watch, as though from afar, as Kali now butted against the god’s legs, winding her way around his calves affectionately. You could feel the purr vibrating in your chest.

You were going to have to have words with this cat again, you thought, scowling inwardly at Kali’s behaviour. You might have pulled any shred of control you had of her then, return to your own body, but you still had a job to do and Stark’s timer was running out.

If you’d had much influence on Kali, she might have jumped when you felt the pressure on her back, but instead a louder purr escaped you and, when you glanced up, you found Loki had bent slightly at his knees to now run his hand gently along your back.

A few more repeated motions like that and – you couldn’t deny it - Kali was right to purr, the sensation so nice you couldn’t help but give into the instinct to arch your back into his hand, stretching your neck up in pleasure.

You shouldn’t enjoy this – this was a man – a god! – that had ridiculed you on first meeting him, that had called you irresponsible, often referred to you as a pathetic Midgardian, not the least he was a villain to Earth –

“So, you enjoy this?” You startled slightly at the voice and froze for a moment, making Loki’s hand pause against your back at how rigid you’d suddenly. You tried to relax. He was talking to Kali - not you. He didn’t know it was you. You continued to try to reassure yourself and slow your racing heart, now actually _letting_ Kali take control. She knew what she was doing and immediately began rubbing against Loki’s paused fingers, meowing impatiently for his attention to continue.  

Loki began to stroke her again, though more cautiously now as though worried of scaring you, you purred to encourage him that it was all fine and Kali now turned, sitting back on her haunches and now stretching up Loki’s thighs in a request you knew well.

“Has that \   girl lost you again?” Loki muttered again and, had you been in control, you might have bristled at this comment. Loki’s eyes now flickered to the surrounding corridors, briefly scanning both ways before he crouched down, and Kali made the most of this, lithely jumping up onto his folded legs, then onto his shoulder as though this was all a regular thing to do.

Loki straightened up, rather unperturbed by this apparent ‘alien’ creature now perching on his shoulder. He reached up casually to scratch behind Kali’s ear, just where she liked it, and she purred in delight. The USB stick at Kali’s throat swung with her movements and seemed to catch the corner of Loki’s eye because he paused again, turning more towards where she sat.

His fingers easily managed to catch the device, now able to read the Stark Industries stamp engraved into the metal and he raised an eyebrow at this. “So, she’s working for Stark _and_ hacking his system…” Loki’s eyes flashed up to Kali’s where she watched him expectantly. “You do have a most interesting companion…” He murmured to Kali who meowed as though in agreement.

He let the USB go, and you were surprised he wasn’t tempted to steal it – though did Asgardians know how to work an Earth computer? “And here I was thinking Midgardian’s were boring…” Loki mused, now turning his head away his mind lost in thought. Kali meowed once again, as though she too, agreed with this statement. “I must confess, I am surprised though,” Loki muttered, continuing to confide in the cat and your ears perked up, “My impression of the girl was one of independence. Employment by the Tin man’s cooperation didn’t seem to suit her…”

This took you by surprise – first that Loki had thought about you enough to make this assumption – secondly that he, in fact, right.

You weren’t a sell-out in any sense - always preferring free-lance work, being your own boss, and never managing long in any large cooperation jobs you had tried when in desperate need for money. People had always joked you had to be a cat person because you were so self-sufficient and rarely found yourself tied down to anything.

Loki began to walk now, Kali still happily perched above him, back the way he had come, apparently happy to escort her some of the way to her destination. You could only watch as the two walked – well Loki walked – in companionable silence and in complete ease of one another. It certainly making the journey faster and easier for you – no longer requiring such effort on your behalf to use the elevator or stairs, or even slipping through the occasional fire door that separated the corridors – but the journey also left you with a lot of questions. When had Kali and Loki become so friendly? You’d only been in New York a couple of weeks. He’s seemed disgusted and cautious of her on your first meeting, then simply curious about the cat when he found her on the balcony with you.

Loki paused behind one of the heavy fire doors that led to the main lab part of the tower where Tony so often spent his hours. Without needing to be told, Kali dropped from his shoulder to land lightly on the floor next to him, watching the door, her tail held high, the end flicking above her. She meowed as Loki pushed the door open for her to slip through, in an almost parting remark. You thought you caught his lip twitch, but Kali was already padding down the corridor.

* * *

Your room swam into view in front of you now and the tell-tale ache pounded between your eyes as a punishment for just how much time you’d spent with Kali. You’d left her to make her own way back home after delivering the USB stick – knowing she was more than capable and also knowing you weren’t sure how much longer you could have kept the connection. You dropped your head onto the desk in front of your, the cool, treated wood nice against your flushed skin.

You had been so bored you’d walked Kali all the way to the Tower as well as up it, and now you were paying the price. You screwed your eyes shut against the pain in your forehead and in an attempt to get some moisture back into your dry eyes.

Stark wasn’t likely to turn down your offer. Before returning his USB to him, you had snuck into an empty office and created a – rather crude thanks to your form at the time – note for Kali to drop on his lap.

You’d turned down the job.

You weren’t sure whether to thank Loki or curse him for making you remember yourself and your principles. It wasn’t that you had refused the work though, you were more than happy to help Tony and the rest of the Avengers – how could you _possibly_ turn that down?! – But you weren’t going to be an employee. You weren’t another brick in the Tower’s walls.

You lifted your head enough to place your folded arms under your forehead as a cushion and sighed heavily. What were you doing? One day you were going to have to take a serious job or else you’d be living off your aunt forever. She didn’t seem to mind of course, and it wasn’t like she was lacking for money, but you didn’t like having to rely on Pepper to survive. Maybe it was time you stopped offering your services for free, had to start turning down the people that couldn’t afford you. No. That wasn’t you. You couldn’t turn away someone in need.

The only thing left then, though, was for you to get yourself a well-paying job in a huge heartless company – something that gave you enough money to cover all the unpaid work you did – become your own charity. But what if you lost yourself then? Stopped caring? What if –

A throat was suddenly cleared behind and you shot up in surprise, your head throbbing painfully in protest. You turned sharply only to see Loki now stood in front of your closed bedroom door, holding Kali up the scruff of her neck in one hand. “Didn’t I warn you about misplacing this?”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, I promised this last night, but I was tired and it was getting worse and worse, so I finished it this morning. It’s still not great, but my writing is a bit rusty at the moment - I think I need to make it a habit to write a whole series in one go so I don’t lose my characters rather than writing a part here and there mixed with other bits.
> 
> Anyway, sorry it’s not the best - as always, im literally making this series up as I go, so I apologise for that haha

**Author's Note:**

> I honestly don’t really know where I am going with this, but it seemed like a start, and I am open to any suggestions!


End file.
